With the 8th Anniversary being on July 23rd and no matches being announced yet... who should face Claudio for the title? In 2011, Claudio has beaten all contenders for the tile: Generico, Ryan, Hero and Low Ki. Who is left? It would be fun to see Claudio face Willie Mack, but with Willie loosing at ASW Night 2, I don't think he deserves the title shot yet.... Will Davey be back from Japan? If he is, that match will be perfect for the 8th Anniversary. Or is there somebody else that deserves that title shot?

Good question..I would not mind seeing Davey (if he comes back) or Steen get a shot at Claudio. Same could be said for Eddie Edwards.He still kinda NEW, but he went 2-0 at ASW8 with wins over Shelly & Generico.

I don't agree with Ricochet. He could have great matches but that doesn't mean he deserves a title shot. Omega would be crazy fun... but let's be honest... its just hoping and wishing. I do believe Kevin Steen deserves a title shot after being, in my mind, the MVP of ASW. The crowd is hot for him right now, and it would be a perfect time for him to get it.

Eddie Edwards seems to be getting the build up with the singles wins the two nights, over Generico the second night. I'm not a fan of Edwards, and loath the concept of him actually winning the title to the point that I'd stop going until he dropped it. But I also don't think Claudio should or will drop it quite yet, hoping he holds it through the year to set the new record for length of holding the belt. But even if he does drop it this year, it seems more likely to come after BOLA. So I'd just as soon see Eddie, like Joey, get the title shot and loss sooner rather than later.

Steen is over like hell, but challenge for the title doesn't make a damn bit of sense:

Cyanide: Steen over TozawaRussellreunion: Hero over SteenASW: Mack over Steen

A two match losing streak in singles matches. You'd think the Board of Directors would "want" him to win at one singles match leading into being given a title shot, or go the Generico route of taking a tag fall off the Champ.

BTW... did anyone else notice how Joey was able to avoid giving back some of that mega singles push he got by, after losing the title shot, doing a couple of singles jobs to people being built up toward Claudio? Instead he slid over into the pushed tag combo, the team getting wins both nights? Wait, he also ducked the DDT tourney where he would have had to be in the losing end of a tag match, instead getting the cheap heat match with Candice. Okay...

Back to the Big Belt...

I'd like to see Generico built up later in the year for a shot after Claudio has run the table with everyone. The match was Russellreunion was very good, just coming at the end of a extremely long show that started extremely late and wasn't exactly infront of PWG's core crowd. Despite all that, they had good heat all things considered. I'd love to see them do it in Legion Hall, but after we see Claudio with everyone else. He's been a helluva champ, and after having the title bounce around all over the place since Hero dropped it with a pair of vacatings and the third being a one-and-out reign, it is time for a nice long run.

eastbay510 wrote:It wont be Willie Mack I think he will be in Germany.

Damn, as soon as I read the title I literally thought to myself "I'm gonna post Willie Mack."So that's a no for Mack, it probably won't be Steen given his two recent losses, and Tozawa is out of the picture, but he had a hell of a run. I doubt Davey Richards should be the one to face Claudio, because everyone would know he wouldn't win. Really, that just leaves Roderick Strong.

I hope its anyone but Strong, I love Roddy but Ive seen Roderick/Claudio live twice and both have been underwelming. I think it should be Davey if he isnt Japan, it makes sense cause he never lost the title. Ricochet is my second choice as crazy as it sounds to some people. Ricochet has been having some great matches and he and Claudio have a lot of history from Chikara to his PWG debut at BOLA last year. Eddie is my favorite wrestler but I dont know if hes been around long enough. Omega would be awesome but he is always in Japan, I think Aries would bring it if he were in a title match, What I would love to see is a Jay Briscoe title match, but Im not even sure hes ever had a singles match in PWG. I think soon some guys lower on the card will be getting title shots there just arnt a lot of contenders.

Anything is really possible with who can face Claudio. I don't think it can be Steen though, as much as I would like it to be. I'm going to have my reason as a spoiler, though, cause it has to do with All-Star Weekend -- and as far as I remember, it hasn't been brought up in the boards yet. Could be wrong though.

The possibility of Steen going after the title might be a little dim. After the Bucks attacked Steen and Tozawa following their match on All-Star Weekend 8 Night Two, Steen pretty much said that his new goal is to rip off the Bucks' dicks and eat them... Or something along that line. Either way, he wants revenge on the Bucks. I doubt PWG will just throw away that build up, but then again, who really knows? For all we know he could get a title shot and the Bucks could do yet another run in on him.

So Steen is out... That only leaves Davey or Eddie. It will make more sense if its Davey since Eddie is too "New". One thing I noticed in the past years at almost every Anniversary show, usually the main event has a feud ending or a specialty match (Steel cage or Warfare). If its not Davey or Eddie, maybe a triple threat match? Claudio vs Hero vs Low Ki?

i understand why someone can win the title and then have to drop it due to overseas opportunities...i just do not want them to get a title shot upon their return... .i think that the only ones who can take the title are edwards,steen, or generico....steen would be my choice since he is so over now....i think we need a finish that would start a feud out of that match as well....

I too hope that Roddy doesnt get the shot, it's just he makes the most sense right now given the recent records and current situations of the other top contenders. I suppose they could go with Chuck Taylor if they don't want to put Roddy in the match. They could do what they normally do when there's no clear #1 contender, which is book a 3-way or 4-way match, but I really don't wanna see another dissappointing clusterfuck title match, especially not at an anniversary show.

It's obviously Eddie Edwards. However, he's in NOAH during this show so it's not obviously Eddie Edwards. Now that I think about it, it might be Davey. The same storyline with Ki, the champ who never lost the belt. In the Generation Next thread, I had Davey in the six man, but I guess you can replace him with El Generico.